NAP stands for name, address and phone number. In local SEO it describes the core contact details of a business, which should read the same on its website, in its Google Business Profile and in directories.
Why does NAP matter?
Google says local results rely mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, and that businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up. According to reports, conflicting details in different places make it harder to match them to one business, which is why practitioners advise keeping NAP identical. Google’s help pages do not use the term.
Where does NAP appear?
- on the website, usually in the footer and on the contact page
- in the Google Business Profile
- in directories and review sites (local citations)
- in structured data, using
name,addressandtelephoneon a LocalBusiness
Example
Example Ltd, 1 Sample Street, Springfield 12345, +1 555 0100
If the website says “1 Sample St.” and the profile says “1 Sample Street”, the same address appears in two spellings. After a move or a rename, old directory entries often keep the previous details. The example is invented.
Sources
- Improve your local ranking on Google - Google Business Profile Helpsupport.google.com
- LocalBusiness - schema.orgschema.org
- LocalBusiness structured data - Google Search Centraldevelopers.google.com
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